Graduating Air Force cadets stand at attention inside their football stadium at the start of the commencement ceremony for the class of 2013, at the U.S. Air Force Academy, in Colorado, Wednesday May 29. (Brennan Linsley/AP)

Two Texas Congressmen are teaming up to reinstate a religious phrase in an Air Force Academy honor code that was recently removed after a complaint.

Republicans Sam Johnson of Plano and Pete Olson of Sugar Land introduced a bill last week to require Congressional approval before any changes may be made to oaths to enlist in the Armed Forces.

Their legislation comes on the heels of a decision by the Air Force Academy on Oct. 25 to allow cadets taking their honor code to opt out of saying “so help me God” at the end of the oath.

Olson, a former Navy pilot, said military personnel who undergo stressful training to prepare for protecting the nation should be allowed to exercise their religious freedoms.

Johnson spent seven years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, during which time he said he found strength in God.

“I can tell you from experience, there are no atheists in foxholes,” Johnson said in a statement. “Many people don’t know this but when you survive a near-death experience you realize that the only thing you had to hold on to was your faith in God.”

According to Religion News Service, the Air Force changed the oath after the New Mexico-based Military Religious Freedom Foundation complained about the presence of religion in the military. The group says Christianity is given a higher pedestal at the Air Force Academy and has been critical of its use in official military practices.

Other military academies do not use the word “God.”

“It’s not only my experience, but that of my fellow POWs, veterans, and those currently in harm’s way that make ‘so help me God’ vital to the oath,” Johnson said. “I urge my colleagues to join this effort to protect the legacy of freedom of religion.”

The bill was introduced last week and has been referred to the Committee on Armed Services.